Another great week in the keys

Guest: JOHN (APOPKA,FL)
Date of Stay: 04/07/12 Review Submitted: 05/16/12

We go to the Keys every other year and this property ranks right up there with some of the best we've rented. Location was great for us since we fish the gulf side.It was somewhat secluded at the end of the street but close to any shopping needs you may have.The property was very clean and had all of the amenities that were described in the property bio.We had ten people and it slept all very comfortably.Kitchen was well equipped and the extra refridgerator in the garage was a plus.The boat dock is very accessible and will accomodate a good size boat.We enjoyed the kayaks and the fact that the owner had life jackets in the garage was a plus.The lagoon was clear and full of Keys wild life and was very educational for the few in our party that had never been down there.We would reccomend this property for anyone with a large party.

Recommended for:Adventure seekers, families with young children, families with teenagers.

A relaxing vacation house with great amenities

Guest: Marie-Josee H.
Date of Stay: 03/10/12 Review Submitted: 03/20/12

We really enjoyed our week stay at the house. Mostly updated, the pictures show exactly what you can expect. When we travel with our family, we are used to rent houses or condos because it is so convenient to us. We were very impressed how clean the house was. The mattresses and furniture are very comfy too. For cooking, the kitchen is well equipped with pots, pans and others. We even had a delicious breakfast using the waffle maker! This house is perfect for two families since one of the master bedrooms with complete bath is completely separated from the rest of the house. It was perfect for our guest. The kitchen and two bathrooms have been nicely remodeled. Our favorite part of the house was the huge Florida room. We ate there every meal we spent at the house. The breeze was great and we enjoyed the views. There are many things to do in the house or around the house to keep everyone busy. The kayaks were a big hit with the boys. Every day, we went kayaking on the ocean, which was fabulous. Fishing has been fun too. Our sons had fun playing in the tide pool or around it chasing the crabs and looking at the sea life. If the weather wasn’t so great for a few hours, the foosball is a good game along with the other board games we found to entertain anyone. Even if the house is very quiet and relaxing, we just had a short ride to get on the main road with restaurants, grocery store and a few shops. The two fish markets have the best fresh fish. The beach is a little over a mile from the house, which is nice! Lastly, Key West is about an hour away. We will definitely consider this vacation house next time we go back to the Keys area.

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AN INCREDIBLE HOME FOR A CARE FREE VACATION!

Guest: Tom L.
Date of Stay: 11/07/11 Review Submitted: 03/11/12

My giflfriend and I spent 6 wonderful days with 2 other couples. The house is very spacious, and yet with a lot of privacy if you want it. We stayed in the Guest Cottage which has a king size bed and its own bathroom and shower. The views are awesome and sitting in the screened porch looking out over the gulf is sooooo relaxing. We had a great time fishing, relaxing at the nearby Sombrero beach - which is gorgeous, visiting the state park and the Dolphin Research Center. The sunsets viewed from local restaurants are some of the best in the world! It was great to have the kyaks available. We paddled the "kayak built for 2" out into the gulf and around one of the nearby islands. We could see the bottom almost all the time and saw some great sights under and above the water. The accomodations were clean and the home contained everything we needed for a wonderful vacation. We highly recommend this rental property and look forward to returning next season.

Owner response:Tom - We are delighted you and your girlfriend enjoyed your stay in our little slice of Paradise, and that you were able to use the kayaks and explore the gulf. We look forward to your return next season !!

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Loved the porch and the modern kitchen!

Guest: Lori W.
Date of Stay: 11/12/11 Review Submitted: 03/05/12

My husband and I visited Marathon for the first tme together in November...we were lucky enough to stay at this house on the Gulf! I found the porch to be the perfect place to sit back, relax, read, and/or just enjoy the view....the beautiful water, the gentle breezes blowing the palms, and the wildlife (including plenty of birds and iguanas). My husband enjoyed the boating/fishing opportunities and I found Sombrero Beach to be a gorgeous beach...and close...probably less than a mile away. This beach offered great facilities. Oh, and you will find everything you need to prepare and serve the fresh catch of the day in the modern kitchen. We loved our stay in Marathon and were very happy with our selection in houses.

Owner response:Thank you Lori - so glad you had a great time and enjoyed our relaxing and secluded paradise ! You are always welcome at our home in the Florida keys. We look forward to your return, which we hope will become an annual event !!

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Looking forward to returning

Guest: Les M.
Date of Stay: 11/20/11 Review Submitted: 03/05/12

Very clean. Great open kitchen and water view. Lots of privacy. Great furnishings and kitchen well stocked, including spices. Property was consistent with my expectations based on website information. Reasonable price. I would stay here again and recommend this home to my friends.

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A relaxing paradise with some adventure

Guest: Chris B.
Date of Stay: 11/08/11 Review Submitted: 03/04/12

We were in Marathon for 6 days and stayed in this rental with two other couples. Bed linens and bathroom towels were very nice and the place clean. I practiced scuba in the pool and was able to snorkel right off the dock, finding lobster and tropical fish. Catching fish from the dock was exciting too. Even though we were there with two other couples it did not feel crowded and there was plenty of room to relax and enjoy the breeze coming into the patio right off of the Gulf.

Owner response:We are thrilled you enjoyed using the sea kayak. When we added the sea kayak to our sea vessel fleet, we were unsure if any novices would take advantage of its features. It is heavier, but much more stable than the sleeker, single hull kayaks. We look forward to your return visit !!

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Much more spectacular than the pictures show !

Guest: Patricia F.
Date of Stay: 10/22/11 Review Submitted: 01/27/12

This property is amazing !! The pictures do not do it justice. We loved the spacious kitchen, dining room and family area, as well as the comfy leather couch on the porch. The sandy area near the water was perfect for visiting and watching the sunset. The extras were really nice such as the beach towels and beach chairs, coolers, life vests, and 5 kayaks !! We enjoyed all the kayaks, but one in particular was a very stable ocean kayak with a bottom like a catamaran. We enjoyed using the two person kayak for myself and my youngest child, who was a little timid at first, and my son enjoyed the red,white and blue racing kayak. My children enjoyed trying to find the teeny, tiny holes of the fiddler crabs in the sandy area leading into the lagoon, as well as watching the hundreds of baby fish schooling together, they called the "nursery". We all enjoyed fishing off the dock, and learning about all the different species of fish in the keys. One lazy afternoon we decided to set up the beach chairs on the lagoon dock and read for a few hours, enjoying the warmth and sun. One of our favorite activities was swimming with the Dolphins in the nearby Dolphin sanctuary. My husband and son enjoyed trying to catch lobster at nearby Tom's Harbor. We all enjoyed kayaking out to the nearby island. The gulf water depth is only 4 to 6 feet deep in most places close to this home. We enjoyed standing on the end of the dock, watching the pelicans compete for fish heads and pieces we obtained from a nearby charter boat business. If you find out when the boats return with their fish, they will sometimes give you the discarded heads and other pieces you can use for your own bait and to feed the pelicans. Be sure to bring your own cooler though, for the fish parts. The kitchen was a dream come true, with granite counter tops, and a huge sliding glass window/pass through to the enclosed spacious patio. Every appliance and utensil you can think of is provided, including a coffee grinder, blender, and even a salad shooter which dices, slices and grates for homemade clam chowder. The best part of this home is the incredible, tranquil views we woke up to every morning. We loved to watch the egrets, herons, and other birds as they paid their visit to the fish in the lagoon. The sunsets were also amazing, and viewed best while sitting on the end of the dock with your fishing pole and margarita. We look forward to returning here every year !!

Owner response:We are thrilled you enjoyed using the sea kayak. When we added the sea kayak to our sea vessel fleet, we were unsure if any novices would take advantage of its features. It is heavier, but much more stable than the sleeker, single hull kayaks. We look forward to your return visit !!

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Nie wieder - NO MORE!!!

Guest: ricarda s.
Date of Stay: 01/21/12 Review Submitted: 02/22/12

Wir waren 2 Familien mit jeweils 1 Kind und 3 Kindern. Die Fotos dieser Seite sehen zwar schön aus, entsprechen aber definitiv nicht der Wirklichkeit (genauso wenig wie die erste abgegebenen Bewertung in diesem Portal, ...erinnert uns in Sachen Ausdruck und Schreibweise stark an unsere Korrespondenz mit dem Besitzer...). Wir waren für 10 Tage im Haus. Bei unserer Ankunft war noch schmutziges Geschirr im Spüler, Haare im Besteckkasten, Dreck und Staub in den Ecken überall im Haus. Die Bettlaken hatten teilweise große Löcher und in den Zimmern roch es muffig und naß.In dem kleineren Bad im Haupthaus marschierte Tag für Tag eine Armee von Ameisen, welche sich dann auch im anliegenden Schlafzimmer wider fanden. Die Schlafzimmer sind sehr dunkel und ungemütlich eingerichtet. Dicke, alte Gardinen hängen vor den Festern. In einem Schlafzimmer kann man das Fenster nicht öffnen, da keine Fliegenschutzgitter vor den Fenstern sind. Der Naturpool ist wohl eher ein Biotop. Definitiv nicht zum schwimmen geeignet! Er ist "schmutzig" (abgestandenes Wasser). Krebse, Fische,. befinden sich darin. Der Fernseher ging im ganzen Haus für 5 Tage überhaupt nicht.Die Inneneinrichtung ist alt. Das Sofa und Sitzkissen der Stühle sind versifft und alt. Nach unserer Abreise bekamen wir unsere Kaution nicht zurück, da wir Sachen im Haus beschädigt hätten, die definitv vorher schon kaputt waren (leider haben wir keine Fotos). Das Haus liegt nah am Flughafen Marathon. Beim Anflug größerer Maschinen ist es sehr laut! -------------------------- We were 2 families with 1 child and 3 children. The photos on this page may look nice, but definitely not correspond to reality (just as the first assessment issued in this portal, which corresponds in terms of expression and writing of the owner). We were in the house for 10 days. On arrival are dirty dishes in the dishwasher, hair in the cutlery drawer, dirt and dust in the corners was everywhere in the house. The bed sheets had some big holes and the rooms smelled musty and damp.In the small bathroom in the main house marched day after day an army of ants, which were found in the adjoining bedroom and then resist.The bedrooms are very dark and uncomfortable. Big, old curtains hanging from the firmer. In a bedroom you can not open the windows. The natural pool is probably more of a habitat. Definitely not suitable for swimming! He is "dirty" (stagnant water).The TV was not at all over the house for 5 days. The interior is old.

Owner response:It is unfortunate that these guests did not take care of our home as they agreed to, and as a result they had money deducted from their security deposit. During their stay, the only complaint we received was that the satellite TV stopped working several days after their arrival. We immediately called the satellite company provider and they fixed the problem. Several days later the satellite again stopped working. We immediately called the satellite provider and our electrician. Our electrician found a problem with the satellite installation, which was permanently fixed. We refunded a portion of the security deposit for this inconvenience. When the guests vacated the property, it was filthy. The bathroom looked as if someone had thrown up all over it. There was also vomit in one of the bedrooms. Many of the bath towels were permanently stained and had to be replaced. Garbage cans were overflowing with dirty diapers that must have been at least 5 days old. We have pictures of all the destruction, which were provided to these guests. There were dishes everywhere; as if these guests decided not to wash any dishes the last few days of their stay. The guests claims of holes in the bed sheets are false, as are the rest of their claims. All bed sheets are washed between guests, and replaced if there are any signs of damage. We purchase high quality linens because we know the value of a good night’s sleep. The water in the lagoon cannot be stagnant because the inlet from the gulf to the lagoon provides that about 20% of the water ebbs and flows with the tide and is refreshed each day with every tidal change. In addition, the lagoon contains a very robust aerator which is designed to aerate a lagoon 4 times the size of our lagoon. Finally, what is even worse, although the guests signed a no smoking agreement, we found handfuls of cigarette butts all around the property in the sand and by the exterior doors, after these guests checked out. It was not until after I emailed these guests pictures of the damages and notified them of deductions to their security deposit that they decided to write a nasty review. We have only been allowing guests to use this property for a short time, but have experience renting our home in Montana, and have never had a single complaint; only exemplary reviews, see homeaway 328549. We sincerely hope the reader will understand that these guests damaged our property, and their review is based on spite and not facts.

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